The present invention relates generally to an interactive telephone computer system and more specifically to interactive telephone computer system which may be used for various transactions which involve transfer of funds from an existing account.
Several systems are presently available with which a person may use a telephone to interact with a remotely located base computer system. Most of these existing systems involve the use of a telephone with a touch-tone keypad. The user provides input to the system log processing a predetermined sequence of keys on the keypad.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,649,563 (Riskin) discloses a system which utilizes a conventional touchpad telephone to transmit and receive voice messages from a database computer. The touch-tone signals from the telephone are relayed to an access processor which in turn communicates with a computer base. The computer base then communicates with a billing computer. The database computer then provides a signal to a response storage unit which is interfaced with a voice synthesizer to relay a signal to the access processor. The access processor then provides a voice response which is transmitted through the telephone receiver to the caller.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,652,795 (Wolf et al.) discloses a system in which a telephone with a touchtone key pad may be used to complete transfer of funds transactions with a bank. The system uses a touchtone telephone receiving set which is equipped with a first decoding and printing means. The amount of a purchase is entered into system by means of the touch-tone receiving set. A computer at the bank receives code signals from the telephone set and, after decoding the signals, records the transaction at the bank. The system includes a telephone circuit in which frequencies generated by the touchtone action are transmitted over a telephone line to a telephone exchange which responds to switching instructions and selects the correct line to a computer control system at the bank. The receiver includes a decoding network which receives the signals from the bank, decodes the signals, and then provides a printing signal. The printing signal is provided to a printing mechanism which prints a line of digits to complete the transaction and certifies that funds have been transferred at the bank.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,539,435 (Eckmann) discloses an interactive educational system which is accessed using a touch-tone telephone keypad. The system is used by a student at a remote location to interact with an automated educational and testing center. The student is provided with a publication at his location where he is able to study the material. When the user wishes to be tested on the material, the user communicates via the telephone with a center which contains a central database. The center provides the user with a question and a number of possible answers in the form of a voice communication. Each answer is correlated to a specific button on the telephone keypad. The student chooses the answer by pressing the appropriate button on the telephone, thereby generating a machine-recognizable signal to the center. Automated equipment at the center recognizes the answer, chooses an appropriate reaction to the answer, and interacts by delivering the appropriate voice reaction to the student.
Although these references provide interactive systems in which a telephone keypad is used to interact with a computer at a remote location, they do not provide a system in which a user may select a predetermined transaction using a telephone at the user's location and to pay for the transaction using the same telephone system. Moreover, the available systems do not provide an arrangement in which a user may query the system as to the status of the user's account or of the status of the transaction. Nor do these systems provide an arrangement in which a user can easily modify the transaction request. Such a system may be desirable in several situations.
For example, such a system would be particularly useful to complete lottery or other gaming transactions using a telephone. Although remote lottery transaction systems have been previously disclosed, they do not provide an arrangement with which the user may complete the transaction with his telephone.
For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,689,742 (Troy) and 4,494,197 (Troy) disclose automatic lottery systems in which a user communicates with a central processor from a play console which is remotely located from the lottery's central processor. The console is capable of providing data inputs to the central processor such as identification of the playing console, the player, amounts played, and the particular game selected. However, with the systems disclosed in these two references, the player must travel to the location where the console is located to complete the game transaction. Further, there is no means by which the player may choose to pay for the game by selecting a predetermined account from which the money is to be withdrawn from.
Other references which disclose systems providing interactive communication between a host computer and a user which employ a telephone keypad are U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,451,701 (Bendig) and 4,716,583 (Groner et al.).
Therefore, in view of the above, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a method and system with which a user may select a transaction and pay for the transaction using a telephone at the user's location.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an interactive telephone transaction system wherein a user can modify a previously selected transaction.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an interactive telephone computer system wherein the user may query the status of a selected transaction or the status of the user's account.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide an interactive telephone computer system wherein the system will verify whether the user has sufficient funds in the account for the transaction and inform the user when a transaction causes his account to be overdrawn.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a system wherein the system has voice recognition capabilities to interact with the user. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
To achieve the foregoing and other objects and in accordance with the purposes of the present invention, the interactive telephone transaction system may include a telephone which is used by a customer to interact with the system to select and complete a desired transaction. The telephone is operative to generate a telephone output signal and to receive an incoming signal. A switching means interfaces the input and output signals from and to the telephone with a telephone communication network. The system also includes a money account means which is used by the customer to pay for the transaction. The account means includes an account processor which is preprogrammed to process transactions involving the user's account. A transaction processor is connected to the switching means and to the account processor over the communication network. The transaction processor includes a program which receives a signal which has been entered by the user using the telephone and which identifies the transaction and the amount of the transaction. The transaction processor program further includes logic which communicates with the money access account to authorize the transaction. The transaction processor program debits the amount of the transaction from the user's account and completes the transaction if authorization has been received from the money access account means. The program further includes logic which generates a signal indicating the status of the transaction. The status of the transaction may include information such as an indication that the transaction cannot be completed because it was not authorized by the money access account means. Means are provided for communicating the status signal from the processor to the user.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the interactive telephone system is used to complete lottery type transactions over the telephone. In this embodiment, the processor is programmed to receive a signal and allow the user to select a particular lottery game. The user may enter the amount of money the user wished to play in the game and the program will verify whether the user is authorized to withdraw this amount from the account. The program also allows the user to modify the lottery transaction.
Additional objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be obtained by means of the combinations particularly pointed in the appended claims.